St. Norbert Roars Back to Upend Monmouth

DE PERE - St. Norbert College scored the game's final 20 points to charge back and top Monmouth College 22-14 in a Midwest Conference battle at Schneider Stadium.

The Green Knights (4-1, 4-0 MWC) trailed 14-2 in the second quarter and 14-5 at halftime. St. Norbert outscored the Fighting Scots 17-0 in the second half behind a stellar defensive effort that held the visitors to 74 second-half offensive yards.

St. Norbert's offense had an efficient day as well, rolling up a season-high 503 yards of total offense.

The Green Knights got back into the game midway through the third quarter. St. Norbert started a drive at its own 40-yard line, and James Tringali hit Mark Villers for 44 yards to the Monmouth 16. Six plays later, Tringali scored from the 1 to cut the deficit to 14-12.

A 48-yard pass from Tringali to Michael Heim on the second play of the fourth quarter set up St. Norbert first-and-goal at the Monmouth 3, but had to settle for a 20-yard field goal by Randy Hill to take a 15-14 lead with 13:01 left.

Both teams traded possessions before Monmouth advanced to the St. Norbert 43 just inside 9 minutes left to play. Monmouth quarterback Brik Wedekind's pass was hurried and St. Norbert linebacker Matt Petersilka made a diving interception just before the ball hit the turf to give the Green Knights the ball at their own 44.

On third-and-2 from the Monmouth 48, Tringali hit Brian Fliess at about the 20, and Fliess outran a defender for a critical touchdown with 6:28 left and a 22-14 lead.

Monmouth (1-3, 1-2) was forced to punt with 3:45 left, and St. Norbert picked up three first downs to run out the clock.

The Fighting Scots got the early jump, blocking a St. Norbert punt and scoring on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Wedekind to Austin Peterson. The extra point was missed. Two possessions later, Wedekind had a punt blocked and Monmouth kicked the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

Monmouth pulled ahead 14-2 after recovering a St. Norbert fumble, needing five plays to move 33 yards with Wedekind finding Peterson again for a 4-yard touchdown. Wedekind's two-point pass to Stefan Flynn was good.

Hill connected on a 26-yard field goal with 4:14 left before halftime to cut the deficit to 14-5. Late in the half, St. Norbert had a first-and-goal from the Monmouth 4, but got stopped on the 1-yard line on fourth down.